The True Meaning of Death
by Tiana
Summary: Duo is in C.A. and with luck he meets this girl, who shows him what death truely means. (The Girl is me....)


The True Meaing of Death  
  
Note- Don't own Gundam Wing, do 'own' the character Tiana (my namesake [except the last name]) Other than the age difference, nost of this does unfortunalty describe me. You won't use her like she is, but the name is kinda neat. Tiana [tee-ana].  
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The war against the colonies and earth was finally over. It had been over for since AC 197. It was two years later, and all the gundam pilots were 19 years old, and lived on the respective colonies in space, except Heero, who stayed in the Sank kingdom, in hope to kill Relena, and Duo, who stayed on Earth and came to America. In all his time on earth before, He'd never been to America, which was where his mother and father were from before they moved to space. Somehow this place gave him memoried from when he was 5 or 6 years old. As he walked on the coast of California he saw girl. There was nothing too speical about her, it's just she stuck out, because she was alone, on a beach, sitting on a towel. Duo walked up to her.  
  
"Excuse me, Lady, do you know where I could find a pay phone?" He asked her.  
She glared up from him. He looked at her eyes. They were two different colors. One blue, One green. "I'm just a vacationer. I don't know anything about this place, except this beach is near my hotel."  
Duo nodded. He understood that she was saying. She was an out of towner. One of those people who's barely been on planes. "Oh. Sorry to bother you."  
"No problem. How were you suposed to know I'm not from Calafornia, and that I'm from Massachusetts?"  
Duo laughed. How could he *not* tell. Her skin was a pale white and she didn't talk like most Californians. "Yeah. I guess you're right." He was about to walk off, but something told him to stay. Something, he didn't know what, told him to get to know her. "I'm Duo Maxwell, you are?"  
The sun was in her eyes, so she blinked. "I'm Tiana Marlow."  
She wasn't much of a talk was she? "What are you doing in a place like California?"  
"Getting away from all that is my worthless life," she replied, in her same quiet tone. "Just getting away from my family, my friends, my home, and Josh."  
"Who's Josh?"  
"An ex-boyfriend. Not one of my favorite memories."  
"Ex-boyfriend? What happened?"  
She sighed. "He accused me of somethings, that I'd never do. We got in to a huge fight and he called me some names, and it went totally downhill from there. So here I am. Drove all the way across the country, to California."  
"You drove here?"  
She nodded. "Yeah."  
"You don't look a day over 16."  
"I'm 19."  
Duo's eyes wided. He never even noticed what she really looked like. Only her face. She has wicked long light brown hair, probably down to her ass. It was down, kinda strangly because it was wet. She had on one of those tankini tops and mini board shorts. She herself wasn't that bad looking. A bit shorts, pretty thin, breast not too big. They suited her for her age, height, and from what he could tell her weight. He continued to look at her face. A few freakles, a mole a bit to the left and below her lips, full lips. Just like alot of Californian women. "19? Wow. So am I."  
She smiled. She looked him over. He was cute. Long, dark brown braid, black swim shorts, pretty musclar from his height, and age. "That's cool. So, where were you heading for, before you had the misfortune of talking to me?"  
"Don't know. Looking for babes, that's all."  
She smiled. "Hope you find one soon."  
"What about you?"  
"I'm not a babe. More like a loser."  
He held her chin. "A loser? I don't think so, Tiana."  
"Apparently you mistake me for someone who takes compliments from strangers well," She said.  
"A stranger? I'll have you know that I am a Gundam Pilot...Or I was!"  
"You're THE Duo Maxwell?"  
Duo sat down meat to her and layed down, putting his arms behinf his head and neck, wishing he had his sunglasses. "Yep."  
"I see. You must have all sorts of crazy people staking you."  
"Sometimes. But I never really talk to anyone. Only Heero, and to him I'm a Baka."  
"Baka?"  
Duo laughed. She was purly American. "Baka means Stupid for the most part. Heero is mean on the outside, but I think way way deep down he's pretty caring."  
"Most people are."  
"What about you?"  
"What about me?"  
"Are you caring, Tiana?"  
"Maybe," she sighed. "To some people I am." She watched the sky suddenly get dark and the rain flow down.  
"Aww man. Rain. Damn it!"  
"What? What's wrong with rain."  
"It's my first day here and I don't have any shelter!"  
Tiana sighed. "You can stay over at my hotel. Don't take that as a sex offer, or that I trust you. I just can't let people stay out in the rain."  
"Thank you. Where can we get to it?"  
She pointed to a huge building. "There. Lets go."  
  
She and Duo ran up to the building and stopped at the counter to get the key. They walked from the red carpet, to the elvevator, to the forth floor. Room 4J. Tiana unlocked the door and came it. It was clean. Duo came in and welcomed himself to the bed, then decided this was her room, and she should sleep on the bed. He'd take the little couch in the corner.  
  
"Ya' know, I could get use to this place," Duo said.  
"Huh? What are you talking about?"  
"Being in California, staying with a pretty girl."  
"I'm leaving in a week or two. You'll probably never see me again after that, unless you decide to follow me," she joked.  
Duo smiled. "Who says I won't? You're really nice. You let a stranger just chill at your place until it stops raining."  
"So? You're not too much of a stranger. You're a gundam piliot."  
"That's what you're basing this I Trust thing on?"  
"I told you already, I don't trust you."  
"Then-"  
She cut him off. "I don't know. Because you're cute!"  
Duo smiled. He knew he was cute. "I know."  
  
Tiana and Duo spent the next few rainy days in their room, talking. Just basically getting to know each other. They never kissed or anything. The attraction was there, but each knew it wasn't going to work, because Duo would end up either back in Space or in Japan with Heero, who will continue to call him Baka. She's End up back in her New england home, and they'd never talk again.  
  
"So you're leaving today...Now!?" Duo asked.  
"Yep. Gotta. People actually miss me."  
"But I'll miss you."  
She smiled, and handed him a peice of paper. "Call me. Collect even!"  
"Collect...Hn...okay," he smiled and hugged her. "Thank you. I'll miss you."  
"I know," she smiled and got in her car, and started it up. duo waved as she drove away.  
"You showed a stranger kindness, Tiana. How perfect you are, but why...why can't you belive it. You just shoot yourself down....Why Tiana?" Duo said, heading for her room. She paid for another night for him.  
  
A week had come by. Duo guessed she was home. He had situated himself in that room, as now, he had a job. It was time to call her. He dialed then numbers. There were eleven with the area code included. A boy answered. "Hello?"  
"Hi, Is Tiana there?" Duo asked.  
"Can you hold on?"  
"Sure."  
A woman came on the phone. It wasn't Tiana. "Hello there. They say you want to talk to Tiana."  
"That's right."  
"She's dead."  
"WHAT!?" Duo yelled.  
"She was on her way home, and in New York she got into a car crash. She died 4 hours later. I'm sorry. The funeral is on Wenesday. May I ask who this is."  
"I'm Duo Maxwell. Wenesday. So I take it it happened Sunday?"  
"Yes. Can you make it?"  
"Of course. No matter how I have to get there."  
"Thank you. You must really like her."  
Duo sighed. "You'll never know how much." The woman hung up. "Tiana didn't lie. They really don't care too much."  
  
3 Days Later  
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Duo snuck onto a plane, just to get to Massachusetts, for Tiana's sake. He'd only known her a week, but he felt connected. It was one of those open casket funerals. He looked at Tiana. He eyes closed, her make up not on, the emotionless face. This wasn't the Tiana she'd wanted him to remember. She'd want her to remember the one who smiled, and laughed. He said his blessings to her, signed the guestbook, and left. He didn't want to meet her cruel family. She never liked them. She told him so herself. He doubted he'd like then either.  
  
A Week Later  
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Duo got off the deck of a cruise ship and stepped on to the dock. Heero was waiting for him. Duo ran up to him. "Heero!"  
"Hey Duo. What's a matter. You don't look to happy."  
Duo sighed. He began to tell him the story of Tiana, and how he loved her. Heero protested that he couldn't love someone he'd just met. But Duo went on, telling Heero how she'd changed him. How she barely knew him, but was kinda.  
"But still, Duo, her death is nothing. Thousands of people die."  
"Heero, her death, it changed me. It makes me wonder, why her? Why not someone else? But then it came to me. He death, hers alone ment something. She was un-happy with most of her life, but yet, you'd never be able to tell. To me, her death had to happen, or else I'd never think the things I am. Things about Shinigami that are so...incredible."  
"Duo no Baka!" Heero said, giving Duo a hug, then let go, and led him off to his home.  
  
THE END  



End file.
